“I think that when a person or a media entity or whoever it is makes a mistake and acknowledges it, it demonstrates that they are listening to people.”

Earlier in the day, Paterson had attempted to get beyond the race furor with an appearance on the same radio talk show where he first bemoaned an “orchestrated” effort to damage him and other prominent black politicians by a white-dominated media — a charge that drew a rebuke from the White House.

In his second appearance on WWRL, the Democratic governor admitted he “shouldn’t have said it — straight out,” but stopped short of an apology.

“I was wrong to get into an assessment of how the media views me,” Paterson said. “I do not think that race has anything to do with my poll numbers, has anything to do with my political issues.”